Friday, 11 February 2011

Fight the cuts: the case of Building Schools for the Future

Those six councils who took the government to court over its decision to axe Building Schools for the Future have won their case. The judge found that they had not been properly consulted, and ruled that Michael Gove must reconsider.

Our own council, Barnet, like the good loyal Tories they are, found reasons to welcome the axing of Building Schools for the Future when it happened even though they had already spent/wasted money preparing for new school buildings that would now never be built.

11 comments:

Barnet can’t build the schools even if they wanted to because they borrowed the capital required from the Public Works Loan Board and then ‘invested’ it all in Iceland, trying to make 2% on the turn. Now wasn’t that a clever move.

Well done for reminding us about the 'gambling' money and to baarnett for pointing to the punter/banker 'hedging' his bet. Had they got away with that Coleman and the rest of the Tories would not be calling for an end to local democracy. Not the architect who got to Parliament but the architect of all manner of flawed punts, who did get there. Conservative integrity!

Council are allowed to ‘invest’ money that is not immediately needed, but only for the short term. However, the legislation does not define what short term is. Barnet borrowed the money from the PWLB two years in advance of it actually being required. How many people would consider two years to be short term?

In my opinion, Jaybird, this should have been challenged legally but no private individual has the resources to take on Barnet Council. History has proven that they will spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on expensive lawyers to defend their own.

Ahhh! the ambiguity and the drafting of rules and the Languages of Law and Politics.

True, most indviduals would not afford the minimun £10k to take on a public body but there are other ways of holding the council to account without resigning, according to one mouthy principled Tory ex-councillor who enjoys beating his former friends.

Yes the money does have to be repaid, but the interest rate charged by the Government is lower than would be available to Councils on the money market. This is where the opportunity to make a profit on the interest rate differential arose. Most sensible councils, however, understand that their raison d’etre is to provide services for local residents, not to play at being bankers.

Barnet the Guinea Pig

"This model has a sound theoretical basis... [sic] However it is unproven at this scale." Future Shape cabinet report, 3 December 2008

"Nobody has said this is going to be easy, it's a work in progress, some of it will never see the light of day." Barnet council leader Mike Freer, 16 November 2009

"I do not believe Soviet bureaucratic initiatives like One Public Sector, Labour’s Total Place (and Barnet’s Future Shape / Easy Council) ideas are... the way forward."Barnet councillor Mark Shooter, 4 September 2010

“There are... many examples of long-term partnerships where the commitment and enthusiasm of the provider has waned over the duration of the contract. Major... organisations will generally resource extensively during the first year, or two, of a new contract but this level of resourcing diminishes as the contract moves to a more stable business as usual position.”One Barnet Procurement Principles, 1 March 2011

"...there can be little confidence that Barnet has the capability, and perhaps more worryingly the culture, necessary to meet the challenge posed by the letting and management of contracts that, under the One Barnet plan, will be far bigger than anything the Council has previously dealt with." 'London Borough of Barnet: Procurement and Contract Management', Association for Public Service Excellence, March 2012

Fellow sufferers

#SackBrian

Click on the pic for a small sample of the reasons Brian Coleman was sacked on 3 May as London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden

People of the year 2010: John Burgess and Maggi Myland

Almost a couple, because they spend so much time together! Two of Barnet council Unison branch's most dedicated servants (along with Helen Davies but she's probably well enough known!). These people have personal lives as well, and give up a lot to take on the lazy might of Barnet council under the Tories. The picture is of Maggi working the crowd at Barnet Christmas fair.